Like always, Zoe Washington has baking on the brain.  If she can convince her mom and stepdad to let her audition for Kids Bake Challenge, she knows she can sweep the competition with her mad skills.  She could even end up as a star pastry chef with her own television show!  Zoe just has to prove herself so her parents will take her seriously as a budding baker.

When Zoe gets a letter from her biological father on her 12th birthday, it throws her for a confusing loop.  Convicted of murder, Marcus Johnson has been in prison since Zoe was a baby.  She hasn't heard a word from him in all that time and Zoe's mother has forbidden her from contacting him.  Torn between obeying her mom and finally getting a chance to know her mysterious father, Zoe begins to correspond with him in secret.  As he tells her about himself, encourages her baking, and shares his favorite songs, she begins to see him as not just a criminal but also as an intriguing person who doesn't seem nearly as bad as her mom makes him out to be.  When Marcus insists he's innocent, Zoe believes him.  As she sets out to clear his name, she learns some disturbing truths about a criminal justice system that unfairly targets Black men.  Did Marcus really kill someone?  Or is he the victim of systemic racism?  If Zoe can prove Marcus' innocence and free him from prison, can he finally be a real part of her life?  Suddenly, she wants that even more than a spot on Kids Bake Challenge.  As her secret investigation starts taking over Zoe's life, she has to decide what she really wants and how far she's willing to go to get it.

From the Desk of Zoe Washington, a middle-grade novel by debut author Janae Marks, is a quick but impactful read.  With themes of racism and wrongful conviction, it's a timely read that's as thought-provoking as it is engaging.  Although the book deals with heavy subjects, overall it tells an upbeat, hopeful story.  Zoe is an easy-to-root-for heroine who's full of spunk and determination.  As her eyes are opened to hard truths, she learns some important lessons about family, friendship, forgiveness, and fighting for what matters.  Even if Zoe's particular situation is foreign to some readers, the lessons she learns will resonate.  They certainly did for me.  For all these reasons, I very much enjoyed From the Desk of Zoe Washington and will keep an eye out to see what the talented Marks does next.

(Readalikes:  Um, nothing's really coming to mind.  You?)

After earning her MBA, Bronwyn "Win" Crewse decides to put her skills to good use by taking over the operation of her family's ice cream parlor in quaint Chagrin Falls, Ohio.  She's got big ideas for how to bring the business into the 21st Century while still keeping the menu focused on her grandmother's beloved recipes.  Unfortunately, Win's renovations cause a delay in her plans to reopen the shop during the peak of summer tourist season.  Opening while snows piles up on the ground doesn't exactly lure customers in for a frozen treat.  What can Win do to entice people to venture through her door?

A light bulb moment sends Win on a late-night traipse down an isolated, snow-covered path.  What she finds freezes the very blood in her veins.  Although she doesn't recognize the man lying dead at her feet, he's soon identified as a drifter who once caused financial ruin for the Crewse Family.  When it's discovered that he was poisoned with a difficult-to-find drug, Win's physician father becomes the prime suspect.  With a fledgling business and her family's reputation at stake, Win's not leaving the murder investigation to a biased police force.  As she does her own sleuthing, she makes some shocking discoveries that will put her vulnerable neck on the line.  Can she crack the case and save her family's beloved ice cream shop before it's too late?

The first in a new culinary cozy mystery series, A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette brings some fresh ingredients to the genre.  It's written by an author of color and features a professional Black family, which is something I haven't encountered before in a cozy.  While I've read cozies set in candy stores, cafés, bakeries, breweries, and all kinds of restaurants, I've never encountered one set in an ice cream parlor.  These elements bring some originality to a book that otherwise ticks off all the usual cozy boxes:  an unlikely death in a small town, quirky characters, an amateur detective, and a mostly predictable storyline.  While the plot's a little slow, I still enjoyed A Deadly Inside Scoop overall.  I appreciated its original elements, its emphasis on family loyalty, and the fact that it's a clean, entertaining enough read.  I can't say this series debut knocked my socks off, but it engaged me enough that I'm keeping an eye out for the next installment.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other culinary mystery series, including those written by Vivien Chien, Eve Calder, Kylie Logan, and Ellie Alexander)

Today's a doozy of a Tuesday.  It's Election Day here in the U.S. and, let me tell you, tensions are running very, very high!  I've never experienced a crazier, more divisive election—I can't wait for it to be over.  People are panicking (Costco was completely out of toilet paper by the time I got there at 11:30 yesterday), desperately worried over what will happen if Trump loses.  I'm praying that peace and level-headedness will prevail.  If it doesn't, my pantry and freezer are stocked in case we need to hunker down for awhile.  I admit I'm concerned about the fate of my beloved nation, especially if my chosen candidate does not triumph, but I have faith that God is the one who's truly in charge.  May He bless my beloved nation today and always.

Top Ten Tuesday is always a fun distraction and today it's especially needed!  The topic du jour—My Top Ten Non-Bookish Hobbies—is one I did back in January of 2018 and then again in April of this year.  I don't have enough hobbies to revisit the subject, so I'm going to do something else with my list today.  

1.  Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee (coming May 4)—Titanic books always interest me, so I'm all in for this novel by Lee, who's one of my favorite writers of YA historical fiction.  The story revolves around a British-Chinese teen who smuggles herself on Titanic.  Her plan is to find her missing brother, then convince the higher-ups at the Ringling Brothers Circus to take them both on as trapeze artists.  Of course, nothing goes quite as planned.  Sounds good, yes?

2.  The Girl in the Painting by Tea Cooper (coming March 9)—I discovered this Australian author earlier this year and have been anxious to read more by her ever since.  Starting in 1906, her newest concerns a young orphan who is taken in by philanthropist siblings.  When her female guardian reacts strangely to a gallery exhibit, the girl realizes how little she really knows about the woman.  She sets out to discover the enigmatic woman's back story.  

3.  After Alice Fell by Kim Taylor Blakemore (coming March 1)—In 1865, New Hampshire, a woman is summoned to collect her sister's body from the mental asylum where she has just died from a four-story fall off the institution's roof.  The asylum directors claim their patient committed suicide, but her sister suspects something far more sinister:  murder.

4.  The Moonlight School by Suzanne Woods Fisher (coming February 2)—When Lucy Wilson comes to rural Kentucky in 1911 to work for the education superintendent, she is shocked to discover that most adults in the area's hill country cannot read or write.  She vows to change that.  Inspired by true events, this one sounds excellent.

5.  In Times of Rain and War by Camron Wright (coming April 6)—Okay, so I couldn't resist including one World War II novel.  I've enjoyed other books by Wright, so I'm excited about this novel, which is about a soldier who discovers a young German Jewish woman hiding in plain sight in England.  A connection grows between them, but can they trust each other with their dark, dangerous secrets?

6.  A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus (coming February 2)—Alright, two World War II novels!  This middle-grade offering stars three orphaned siblings who are desperate to stay together, despite the fact that suitable guardians are in short supply and none are looking for more mouths to feed.  They're evacuated to the country, where they finally find hope in a kind village librarian.  Can she keep them safe when the Nazis are already suspicious of her allegiances?

7.  The Fabergé Secret by Charles Belfoure (coming January 5)—Set in Russia, 1906, this novel concerns the persecution of Jews and the couple who determines to do something about it, despite the risks.

8.  Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh (coming May 4)—I can't find a lot of information about this middle-grade novel, but I know it's set during the Korean War.  The cover is very similar to Brother's Keeper, so I'm guessing it tells a parallel story.  Before picking up Brother's Keeper, I'd never read a book about the Korean experience during the war—I definitely want to learn more.

9.  Mazie by Melanie Crowder (coming February 23)—This YA novel set during the 1950s is about a Nebraska teen who's unexpectedly given the opportunity to pursue her dream of performing on Broadway.  Intimidated by the noisy city and the frustration of actually making it in the Big Apple, she has to decide whether to persist with her dream or leave it all behind and return to the life she left behind.

10.  Tidewater Bride by Laura Frantz (coming January 5)—Unlike most residents of Virginia colony, Selah Hopewell has no interest in marriage.  It's ironic, then, that she's put in charge of a group of tobacco brides who are being shipped in to marry Virginia's many tobacco barons.  The last thing Selah is expecting is her own romance ...

There you have it, ten soon-to-be-released historical novels that I'm looking forward to.  Do you enjoy hist fic?  Which up-and-comers are you excited about?  Who's your favorite writer of historical fiction?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I'll gladly return the favor on your blog.

A strange, horrifying phenomenon is sweeping across the nation.  Authorities have dubbed it False Memory Syndrome (FMS).  No one quite understands the devastating affliction, which swamps the sufferer with memories they don't recognize or understand, leading to disorientation, confusion, terror, and madness.  It's contagious—and deadly.

New York City policeman Barry Sutton has seen too much FMS violence and death.  He's determined to stop it.  But how?

Neuroscientist Helena Smith has been hired by Marcus Slade, an inventor worth billions, to create a technology capable of preserving people's most precious memories.  Haunted by her mother's rapidly progressing Alzheimer's, Helena works tirelessly in a secret lab off the coast of California to make the technology a reality before it's too late to save her mom.   

As FMS becomes more widespread and dangerous, Barry becomes increasingly desperate.  When he meets Helena, he realizes it's up to the two of them to save humanity.  As the world around them crumbles and unmakes itself, the two are swept up in a frantic race against time that's becoming more impossible to win with every passing second ...

I'm not a big sci-fi reader, but I am a huge Blake Crouch fan.  Dark Matter—which was one of my favorite reads of 2017—absolutely blew my mind, so I was all in for Crouch's newest, Recursion.  While I didn't end up loving it quite as much as Dark Matter, I still found Recursion to be a stunning, mind-spinner of a read.  The novel is tense, exciting, suspenseful, and thought-provoking.  Barry and Helen are both brave, sympathetic characters, whom I cared about easily.  I whipped through Recursion fast and furious, needing to know what happens next and if our heroes would ultimately be successful.  Needless to say, I really enjoyed this one.  If you dig complex, intriguing sci-fi puzzles wrapped in a pulse-pounding, adrenaline rush of a story, then this is the book for you.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Dark Matter by Blake Crouch)